                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

USE OF EXPERTS IN DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS (§ 54.1-2925)

In any disciplinary proceeding conducted pursuant to this chapter, the executive
director may contract with an expert or a panel of experts in the various
specialties to provide assistance in investigating and evaluating practitioners
who may be subject to punitive action. The executive director may select experts
for this purpose from lists of specialists to be provided and regularly updated
by the appropriate professional societies. Any contract between the executive
director and any consulting expert shall provide that the consulting expert
shall: (i) be available to work with an investigator from the beginning of the
investigation; (ii) receive appropriate compensation for his services; (iii)
review and evaluate a completed investigation report in accordance with
guidelines established by the Board and the Office of the Attorney General and
return it to the Board for action within a specified period of time; and (iv) be
available to testify for the Board in any administrative or court proceeding
arising from the investigations in which he has participated.
		Any expert assisting in any investigation voluntarily or under the contract
arrangements described in this section shall be immune from any civil liability
or criminal prosecution resulting therefrom unless he acted in bad faith or with
malicious intent.

HISTORY: 1986, c. 434, § 54-318.4; 1988, c. 765; 1996, c. 519.